Space Shuttle Orbiter and
|Features the orbiter portion of America’s Space Transportation System. The manned aircraft-like space vehicle is used to carry a wide variety of payloads into Earth orbit, return to Earth, and be used again. The large payload bay of the orbiter measures 15 feet wide by 60 feet long and may transport up to 65,000 pounds into space. The Spacelab is a space laboratory carried in the payload bay and built by the European Space Agency (ESA).